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The Body of Christ Needs the Local Churches for Its Practice
Below, Watchman Nee elaborates on the need for each local church to contain all the riches of Christ, excluding nothing. Similarly,
the local church must include all the believers received by Christ, excluding only those whom He excludes.
“The church…is His Body, the fullness of the One who
fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). The Lord fills the universal church; the
Lord also fills the local church. If a local church only has a part of Christ,
that is not the church. The church is the Body of Christ, which means the
whole Christ. For example, if my waist is forty inches around and I am given a
suit with a waistline measuring thirty inches, I will not be able to wear it.
The clothing must be big enough for me to wear. The relationship of the church
to Christ is like the body to life; it is not exactly like clothing to the
body. Sometimes we can force our clothing a little to fit our body, but we can
never force our body to contain life. The Body must be complete in order to
fully contain the whole life of Christ. Only when the Lord’s fullness is in
the church in Shanghai can it be called the church in Shanghai. If the church
allows a certain matter but disallows another matter, then the church has a
shortage. If there is anything that we cannot accept, the portion of Christ
within that very thing will be excluded from us. In such a case, we are not
perfectly complete; the church is maimed. This is very important. The church
is filled with the fullness of Christ. The church is the Body of Christ;
Christ puts on such a church as His outward container. The church must be
large enough to contain Christ. The church must have a large enough shell for
Christ to fit into. If the church does not have all that His life has, the
church cannot express the complete Christ and cannot be called the
church.
Colossians 1:25 says, “Of which I became a minister
according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to
complete the word of God.” Within the church, there must be the complete word
of God. The word of God must be completed in the church. After reading these
words, we may not understand the practical side. For example, what does it
mean to have the word of God and all kinds of scriptural behavior fulfilled in
the church? What does it mean that a local church should be inclusive and not
exclusive?
…Therefore, a local church must include all kinds of
God’s children who seek the Lord. It must include the brothers who sell
everything as well as the brothers who do not sell everything. We cannot
include what is not in the Bible; otherwise, we will include the world. But we
must include what is in the Bible; otherwise, we will separate and exclude
some of God’s children.
…We do not become a church just by putting up the
name of the local church. We become a church only when there is spiritual
inclusiveness that includes all of the children of God. If the church includes
rather than excludes God’s children, the church will not be responsible for
brothers who desire to go another way, because it is they who are creating the
division, not the church. Therefore, we must be broken to pieces! We must be
dug deeply! We cannot consider ourselves the measuring stick of the church; we
are too short. God has a work for every brother and sister, and He has
committed something to each one of them. When everyone can be placed, there is
the church. The church, therefore, must be inclusive, not
exclusive.
(Watchman Nee, Further Talks,
51-64)
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